Hey there, remember me? I forgive you if you don't. It's been too long. For the longest time, I was fresh out of ideas. Then, as I'm sitting here eating a mixing bowl full of cookie dough, I thought about food. Dinner. I've been spending most of my time at my parents house as they are away on a cruise, and have re-fallen in love with Chef's kitchen (especially the spice/oil/sauce cabinet!). I have been making real dinners (because even I have to admit that though chicken nuggets and scrambled eggs may be eaten for dinner, it is not a real meal) and got inspired to share some of my recipes with you!
Cream of Celery Soup (about 10 mins)
This is a childhood favourite of mine. My mom was never big on cooking (she's a phenomenal baker though) so before my dad became Chef, she was in charge of dinner so she liked to stick to the basics. The simple, the easy, the comforting, the delicious.
1 can of cream of celery soup (condensed)
1 pound of ground meat. As a kid, my mom used ground hamburg, but I've made it with both ground turkey and ground bison. Both are very tasty. I've also seen soy crumble for the vegetarians. I want to try this too.
Rice or mashed potatoes. Or a baked potato! Or pasta!
COOK the meat in a large sautee pan until brown. Season as you cook. For this I just use salt, pepper, garlic, and celery salt
ADD the cream of celery soup. It comes out like cranberry sauce. Don't be tempted to add water. Well, you probably could, but it would dilute the flavour.
MIX the soup and the meat together until the meat is well coated
COVER and let simmer for just a few minutes
SERVE over rice, potatoes, or pasta. (listed in order of my personal preference)
--
This Dish Has No Name (15-20 mins)
This is something I just threw together one day as I was scrambling to make something vegetarian. I'm trying reallllllllly hard to support Adam's diet. I am not creative when I'm cooking. I am a VERY creative baker, but like I'm sure I've said before, my dad is Chef. I am not. I can barely come up with normal recipes nevermind something WITHOUT meat? What the heck? I like to think I'm getting better at it.
1 package spanish/mexican/chicken/whatever flavourited rice
1 package of tortillas (I like whole wheat ones myself)
3 (or 4, or 2, doesn't really matter) Eggs
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Red Bell Pepper
PREPARE: Rice as directed
DICE: your peppers
SCRAMBLE: your eggs. Well, not your eggs, the chicken's eggs
COMBINE: Rice (once it's done) eggs and peppers
WRAP: everything in the tortilla
ENJOY: your lunch/dinner/midnight snack
STORE: your leftovers for another day. This dish can be enjoyed for days and days and days.
---
Sauteed Veggies (7-10 mins?)
Pretty self explanatory. Pretty tasty
VEGGIES OF YOUR CHOICE. My favourites are: onions, peppers of all kinds, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots and zucchini
HEAT your pan with oil (olive, canola, veggie, sunflower... whatever!) and a heaping spoonful of garlic
STEAM your broccoli and carrots in the microwave. This step is completely optional. If you're in a hurry and you don't want that SUPER crunch, you probably want to steam. If you like that crunch or you'd rather not have that steamed texture, then just be sure to put these in the pan before the others so you don't cook the other veggies waiting for these guys to be ready :)
SAUTEE all the veggies together. Season with salt and pepper. (or anything else if you wanna get fancy. I prefer to keep this simple)
---
PASTA AND EASY WAYS TO SPICE IT UP:
PESTO: just a couple spoons of this in a bowl of pasta and a little grated cheese sprinkled on top. Guh. One of my favourites.
PEPPERS: sautee them up, red and green, with a little bit of garlic, and add it to your pasta.
BROCCOLI AND GRILLED CHICKEN: Steam the broc, grill (or cook in a pan) your chicken. Little salt, little pepper, grated cheese, yum.
---
SALAD AND EASY WAYS TO SPICE IT UP
Just a list of things to throw into a salad to make it feel more like a meal than something to settle for.
Salads are one of my favourite meals because of how versatile they are. Toss away those pre-mixed bags of iceberg lettice, carrots and radishes and dare to try something new. Take something you would never think to pair with lettuce and throw it in. It might be nasty, but it might just be your new favourite lunch, dinner, or anytime snack! The best thing about salads is that you can prepare single servings just as easily as you can
prepare for a large crowd.
QUICK TIP:
It seems like everyone except for me is in a hurry. So, to help all of you prepare dinner with just a little bit less stress, here's my quick tip. Take a half hour of your free time (I know you have it because you all watch TV) and chop all your veggies. Separate them into tupperware and store it in the fridge. If you're going to be using grilled chicken in any of your meal plans for the week, now's the time to cook that up as well. Cut and store this in the fridge with your veggies. Now when you go to cook dinner, you essentially have a 'heat and serve' meal, but without all the nasty 'how do you pronounce that?' unnecessary ingredients.
With that said..
Happy Cooking!
:: Celeste
Cream of Celery Soup (about 10 mins)
This is a childhood favourite of mine. My mom was never big on cooking (she's a phenomenal baker though) so before my dad became Chef, she was in charge of dinner so she liked to stick to the basics. The simple, the easy, the comforting, the delicious.
1 can of cream of celery soup (condensed)
1 pound of ground meat. As a kid, my mom used ground hamburg, but I've made it with both ground turkey and ground bison. Both are very tasty. I've also seen soy crumble for the vegetarians. I want to try this too.
Rice or mashed potatoes. Or a baked potato! Or pasta!
COOK the meat in a large sautee pan until brown. Season as you cook. For this I just use salt, pepper, garlic, and celery salt
ADD the cream of celery soup. It comes out like cranberry sauce. Don't be tempted to add water. Well, you probably could, but it would dilute the flavour.
MIX the soup and the meat together until the meat is well coated
COVER and let simmer for just a few minutes
SERVE over rice, potatoes, or pasta. (listed in order of my personal preference)
--
This Dish Has No Name (15-20 mins)
This is something I just threw together one day as I was scrambling to make something vegetarian. I'm trying reallllllllly hard to support Adam's diet. I am not creative when I'm cooking. I am a VERY creative baker, but like I'm sure I've said before, my dad is Chef. I am not. I can barely come up with normal recipes nevermind something WITHOUT meat? What the heck? I like to think I'm getting better at it.
1 package spanish/mexican/chicken/whatever flavourited rice
1 package of tortillas (I like whole wheat ones myself)
3 (or 4, or 2, doesn't really matter) Eggs
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Red Bell Pepper
PREPARE: Rice as directed
DICE: your peppers
SCRAMBLE: your eggs. Well, not your eggs, the chicken's eggs
COMBINE: Rice (once it's done) eggs and peppers
WRAP: everything in the tortilla
ENJOY: your lunch/dinner/midnight snack
STORE: your leftovers for another day. This dish can be enjoyed for days and days and days.
---
Sauteed Veggies (7-10 mins?)
Pretty self explanatory. Pretty tasty
VEGGIES OF YOUR CHOICE. My favourites are: onions, peppers of all kinds, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots and zucchini
HEAT your pan with oil (olive, canola, veggie, sunflower... whatever!) and a heaping spoonful of garlic
STEAM your broccoli and carrots in the microwave. This step is completely optional. If you're in a hurry and you don't want that SUPER crunch, you probably want to steam. If you like that crunch or you'd rather not have that steamed texture, then just be sure to put these in the pan before the others so you don't cook the other veggies waiting for these guys to be ready :)
SAUTEE all the veggies together. Season with salt and pepper. (or anything else if you wanna get fancy. I prefer to keep this simple)
---
PASTA AND EASY WAYS TO SPICE IT UP:
PESTO: just a couple spoons of this in a bowl of pasta and a little grated cheese sprinkled on top. Guh. One of my favourites.
PEPPERS: sautee them up, red and green, with a little bit of garlic, and add it to your pasta.
BROCCOLI AND GRILLED CHICKEN: Steam the broc, grill (or cook in a pan) your chicken. Little salt, little pepper, grated cheese, yum.
---
SALAD AND EASY WAYS TO SPICE IT UP
Just a list of things to throw into a salad to make it feel more like a meal than something to settle for.
- Craisins
- Walnuts
- Pecans
- Peanuts (especially the honey roasted type!)
- Mandarin Oranges
- Strawberries
- Baby Spinach (in place of iceberg lettuce. that stuff is just nasty)
- Feta Cheese
- Mozzarella Cheese (diced)
- Raspberries
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Raspberry dressings/vinaigrettes
- Sunflower Seeds
- Tofu
Salads are one of my favourite meals because of how versatile they are. Toss away those pre-mixed bags of iceberg lettice, carrots and radishes and dare to try something new. Take something you would never think to pair with lettuce and throw it in. It might be nasty, but it might just be your new favourite lunch, dinner, or anytime snack! The best thing about salads is that you can prepare single servings just as easily as you can
prepare for a large crowd.
QUICK TIP:
It seems like everyone except for me is in a hurry. So, to help all of you prepare dinner with just a little bit less stress, here's my quick tip. Take a half hour of your free time (I know you have it because you all watch TV) and chop all your veggies. Separate them into tupperware and store it in the fridge. If you're going to be using grilled chicken in any of your meal plans for the week, now's the time to cook that up as well. Cut and store this in the fridge with your veggies. Now when you go to cook dinner, you essentially have a 'heat and serve' meal, but without all the nasty 'how do you pronounce that?' unnecessary ingredients.
With that said..
Happy Cooking!
:: Celeste
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